After the End
by FreakingOutGirl
Summary: Shu is blind. Inori is dead... or is she? Can their love reborn after all those years? Can her soul find her way back? Following the events of the last episode, my view of how they can reunite.


**After the End**

Am I the only one crying with the end of Guilty Crown? It was so perfect and so sad at the same time. I couldn't take it out of my mind, and when this alternative appeared in my mind I had to try and write it.

When the lyrics appear, please hear, at the same time, Anata Ni Okuru Ai No Uta from the soundtrack.

* * *

><p>He was walking down the street, alone, when she passed him for the first time.<p>

For the past few years, he learned how to live within the shadows, without being able to see a sunrise or the flowers blooming in the spring, but, since she wasn't there to watch it with him, those things lost part of its beauty. Besides, when walking in the dark, it was easier to imagine she was grabbing his arm and guiding him, through the streets.

The girl bumped into him, which was weird, because he was always able of sensing when someone was approaching. She yelled an apology, without looking at him, from under her hoodie and ran, her footsteps silencing in the distance.

He grabbed his stick more forcefully and returned to his steady steps, directing himself to the park.

He liked being there, sitting beside the lake, feeling the fresh air in his face, hearing her voice, hugging her in his mind... Returning to a past he couldn't revive for how long he lived...

* * *

><p>He didn't know how long he was there. He probably fell asleep, since the sun was hot on his face and now he could feel the night wind picking up, against his hair. When he was getting ready to got up, he heard the leaves ruffling, like a light weight was being put over them. The steps got closer and he moved his face, like he could see, in search for the newcomer. He heard a surprised gasp and someone breathing picking up.<p>

"_Shu_..."

That cadence... That sound on his name... He knew that kind of voice anywhere, even if it looked a little rustier than the voice he heard in that same day, singing. But it was hers, he had no doubt!

"Inori..." he replied, feeling his heart beating like a wild horse. His legs trembled and he had to support his weight over the bench.

"Shu!" she said again, this time in a worried tone, while running to him. He felt her hands on his body, but they were different from the touch he remembered... Was he dreaming? Was that the last pounce of sanity he had, escaping from his fingers? But if this was an illusion, he couldn't care less. His hands traveled to her face and he felt her skin, tracing her lines like an artist would do with a priceless statue. It wasn't Inori's face...

"Who are you?" he asked and he felt something wet touch his fingers. The woman was crying, he realized.

"It's me!" she said, in a constricted voice. "I'm back!"

"No!" he said vehemently. "Stop lying! It's not her hands! It's not her face! It's not her voice!" he yelled, yanking his hands from her face, like he could get burned. He couldn't stop the hope from creating roots in his heart and now he was feeling like it weighted a ton. Could it be true? Could her be here? With him? _**For him?**_

The woman opened her mouth, feeling her old voice come back to her in those moments, and the words fell from her lips like a lullaby sang by a mother.

**mou anata kara aisareru koto mo  
>hitsuyou to sareru koto mo nai<br>soshite watashi ha kou shite hitoribocchi de**

_I no longer need you to love me,_  
><em>I'm no longer necessary for you.<em>  
><em>And thus, just like this…I'm alone…<em>

**ano toki anata ha nante itta no?**  
><strong>todokanai kotoba ha chuu wo mau<strong>  
><strong>wakatteru noni kyou mo shiteshimau<strong>  
><strong>kanawanu negai goto wo<strong>

_What was it that you said back then?_  
><em>Those words which didn't reach me now dance in the heavens.<em>  
><em>Although I know it very well, I continue<em>  
><em>to make a wish that will never come true.<em>

**hanasanaide**  
><strong>gyutto te wo nigitteite<strong>  
><strong>anata to futari tsudzuku to itte<strong>  
><strong>tsunaida sono te ha atatakakute<strong>  
><strong>yasashikatta<strong>

_Don't let go…_  
><em>hold my hand tight…<em>  
><em>say we'll continue being together…<em>  
><em>our held hands used to be so warm<em>  
><em>and so tender.<em>

**anata ha itsumo sou yatte**  
><strong>watashi wo okorasete saigo ni nakasunda<strong>  
><strong>dakedo ato ni natte<strong>  
><strong>gomen ne tte iu<strong>  
><strong>sono kao suki datta<strong>

_You were always like that,_  
><em>making me angry and in the end, making me cry.<em>  
><em>But afterwards<em>  
><em>you would apologize…<em>  
><em>I loved your face while doing so.<em>

**hanasanaide**  
><strong>gyutto sou omoikkiri<strong>  
><strong>anata no ude no naka ni itai<strong>  
><strong>futari de odeko wo awasenagara<strong>  
><strong>nemuru no<strong>

_Don't let go…_  
><em>hold me with all your might…<em>  
><em>I want to stay in your arms…<em>  
><em>I want us to sleep with our foreheads<em>  
><em>together.<em>

**mou nido to ha aenai tte koto wo shitteta no?**

_Did you know we would never see each other again?_

**hanasanaide**  
><strong>gyutto anata ga suki<strong>  
><strong>mou ichido datte warattekurenai no<strong>  
><strong>anata no nukumori ga kiechau mae ni<strong>  
><strong>dakishimete<strong>

_Don't let go…_  
><em>hold tightly, I love you…<em>  
><em>You will not smile for me ever again…<em>  
><em>so before your warmth disappears,<em>  
><em>hold me in your arms.<em>

"Do you remember… Shu?" she asked and he felt his own eyes water and the tears fell freely. He let himself fell over the bench and buried his face in his hands, letting the tears soak his skin. She walked forward and enveloped him in her arms._ Oh, how he missed that warm embrace!_ _It was her! It was Inori!_ She was back! He could touch her, once again! He pushed her against his body, while his sobs rocked their bodies together.

"How?" he whispered, afraid he could break the spell, when they finally release each other.

"This body was in a comma, its owner was already dead... When we... _apart_, I think my soul searched for the closest container that could shelter me and keep me close... to you..." she replied, closing her eyes and feeling a shiver run through her body when Shu's finger passed over her lips.

"So, you are really here?" he asked, touching her cheeks with his fingers like it was made of the most fragile porcelain.

She smiled and put her lips over his own so he could feel it.

"Yes, I'm sorry it took so long, but I was asleep for a long time and when I woke up, I was so weak I couldn't move... And then, I couldn't find you! You were nowhere to be found!" she said, in a quivering voice. "And I'm sorry for bumping into you this morning, I just noticed it was you when I saw you with this jacket..."

He smiled, finally understanding why he didn't feel when a stranger approached him. Because she was no stranger, she was part of him, like he was part of her and in this new world, they would discover what it's finally to live in peace, only bathing in the love they felt for each other. Yes, this was the birth of a new world, indeed!


End file.
